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INTRODUCTION

 Mobile computing has been the buzzword for quite a long time.
 Mobile computing devices like laptops, web slates & notebook PC’s are
becoming common nowadays.
 Several microprocessors are available in the market for desktop PC’s from
companies like Intel, AMD, Cyrix etc.
 The mobile computing market has never had a microprocessor specifically
designed for it.
 Crusoe is the new microprocessor which has been designed specially
for the mobile computing market. Crusoe was conceptualized as a
hybrid microprocessor, designed to execute x86 binaries.
 Developed by a small Silicon Valley startup company called Transmeta
Corp.
 Crusoe is a 128-bit microprocessor fabricated using the CMOS
process. The chip's design is based on a technique called VLIW (Very
large Instruction Word) to ensure design simplicity and high
performance.
 It is based on Transmeta's two patented technologies, namely, Code
Morphing Software and Longrun Power Management.
 It is a highly integrated processor available in different versions for
different market segments.
 The concept of Crusoe is well understood from the simple sketch of the
processor architecture, called 'amoeba’.
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CRUSOE PROCESSOR VLIW HARDWARE

Basic principles of VLIW Architecture

 VLIW stands for Very Long Instruction Word.

 It is a method that combines multiple standard instructions

into one long instruction word.

 This word contains instructions that can be executed at the

same time on separate chips or different parts of the same
chip.

 It provides explicit parallelism and thereby, the VLIW

architectures are a suitable alternative for exploiting
instruction-level parallelism (ILP) in programs.

 A Crusoe processor long instruction word, called a molecule,

can be 64 bits or 128 bits long and contain up to four

instructions, called atoms.

 All atoms within a molecule are executed in parallel, and the

molecule format directly determines how atoms get routed to
functional units; this greatly simplifies the decode and
dispatch hardware.
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CODE MORPHING SOFTWARE

 The Code Morphing software is an emulator to translate

x86 binaries into native code at run time.

 Transmeta’s software translates instructions once, saving

the resulting translation in a translation cache. The next time
the (now translated) x86 code is executed, the system skips
the translation step and directly executes the existing
optimized translation.

 The translation cache, along with the Code Morphing code,

resides in a separate memory space that is inaccessible to x86
code.

 The translation system needs to choose carefully how

much effort to spend on translating and optimizing a given
piece of x86 code.

 One of the many ways in which the Code Morphing

software can gather feedback about the x86 programs is to
instrument translations: the translator adds code whose sole
purpose is to collect information such as block execution
frequencies, or branch history.
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LongRun Dynamic Power Management

 Enables longer battery life by continually adjusting operating

frequency and voltage to match the performance
requirements of application workloads

 More efficient than typical duty cycle clock throttling power

management schemes

 Crusoe processors adjusts its clock frequency adjust its

power consumption by adjusting its clock frequency on the
fly.

 Current version of the Crusoe can vary from 1.1v to 1.6v and
frequency can vary from 200 MHz to 700 MHz in increments
of 33 MHz.
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CRUSOE TM5400 BLOCK DIAGRAM

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CRUSOE Processor Model TM5600 Features

 VLIW processor and x86 Code Morphing™ software provide

x86-compatible mobile platform solution
 Processors fabricated operates at 500-700 MHz at very low
power levels
 Integrated 64 KByte L1 instruction cache, 64 KByte L1 data
cache, and 512 KByte L2 write-back cache
 DDR SDRAM memory controller with 100-133 MHz, 2.5V
interface
 SDR SDRAM memory controller with 66-133 MHz, 3.3V
interface
 PCI bus controller (PCI 2.1 compliant) with 33 MHz, 3.3V
interface
 LongRun™ advanced power management with low-power
operation extends battery life
 1-2W @ 500-700 MHz, 1.2-1.6V running typical multimedia
applications
 100 mW typical in deep sleep
 Full System Management Mode (SMM) support
 Compact 474-pin ceramic BGA package
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CONCLUSION

 The Crusoe processor solutions have been designed for lightweight (two to
four pound) mobile computers and Internet access devices such as
handhelds and web pads.

 They can give these devices PC capabilities and unplugged running times
of up to a day.

 Rather than “throwing hardware” at design problems, Transmeta chose an

innovative approach that employs a unique combination of hardware and
software.

 Using software to decompose complex instructions into simple atoms and to

schedule and optimize the atoms for parallel execution saves millions of
logic transistors and cuts power consumption on the order of 60–70%

 Transmeta’s Code Morphing software and fast VLIW hardware, working

together, achieve low power consumption without sacrificing high
performance for real-world applications.

 The technology is young and offers more freedom to innovate (both

hardware and software) than conventional hardware-only designs.
Transmeta microprocessor designers may produce one surprise after
another in the coming years.